Daily observations on whatever comes to mind. (Look for a lot of posts on food and gratitude. ;)

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

January Book Club: The Invisible Man

Book Club night! We discussed The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

My thoughts about the book were right in line with everyone else's. We agreed that for its time, it was an important book. It was one of the first to explore science fiction and therefore granted its permanent place in our literary canon. But we also agreed that it was a somewhat lackluster story. The characters weren't developed enough or likable enough and there seemed to be something missing. I felt that it could have done better in exploring the human psyche when faced with extraordinary situations, and was left feeling that there was a missed opportunity to do so. It was like a brainless action movie that just moves from car chase scene to car chase scene and the people are just the props. I'm glad I read it though. It's one of those books that help you understand the history and development of our literature and culture.

Book for February: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. I picked it up a few minutes ago to start reading only to discover that the first 13 pages are missing! Ai-ai-aiiiiii. It's a novel about the Civil War. I'm not a big fan of war fiction, but this won a Pulitzer Prize, so I'm hopeful this will be an exception. Has anyone read it? How did you like it?